Monte Maggiore – Part 2 – Bio-Dynamics & Viticulture

In following up from Part 1, Vince takes the group up through the vineyard at MonteMaggiore. Vince starts off with some background on how they acquired the property and the background on it’s name. He then discusses what it means to be a vineyard that is becoming certified as Bio-Dynamic. Vince discusses some of the practices of Bio-Dynamics, and in the video you can see why bio-dynamics can be mis-understood and easily dis-missed as a weirdo farming process. And that is because most people don’t understand what it’s about, other than hearing that it involves burying cow horns that are packed with manure, which it does but…. There is a lot more to it, which I am not able to describe as it is still new to me and it has great depth and an all-encompassing practice.

Bio-Dynamics is rooted in moon cycles, burying cowhorns, and brewing a tea like bio-organism mash that gets distributed through-out the vineyard. And despite the public image of Bio-Dynamics, there are a lot of vineyards that are hot on the trail of bio-dynamics.

This was a great first-hand introduction to Bio-Dynamics which remains to be a hot debate with it’s respect to traditional farming. Please take a look at what Vince has to show us and I think this will help you get a better idea of some of the practices within Bio-dynamics and Viticulture. (in my comments I note that bio-dynamics are young and remain un-substantiated). I would say there are few vineyards that started with bio-dynamic practices before year 2000, and when it comes to raising vines and creating a vineyard with a general “Groove”, and yes vineyards have their own cycles and temperments, there is little empirical data that can sway the old-school

And then there are mavericks like Randall Grahm who advocate that bio-dynamics and dry-farming create a terroir that will be responsive and ultimately produce a richer site-influenced product (grapes) Appellation America. Grgich Hills is all Bio-Dynamic, which is impressive and un-expected. Bio-Dynamics is something we’ll be focusing on more at Vineyard Vlog, and hope for people’s comments on this topic. There’s a lot to learn.

The end of the video got cut short, but Vince explains why “Mountain Fruit”, or grapes that are grown on hillsides, raise a different kind of grape and ultimately a different kind of wine. Also how irrigation and drainage are impacted by sloping sites. There’s a lot going on in vineyards and we’ll be exploring this more!